According to a recent survey by consulting firm CFI Group, iPhone is the most satisfying smartphone. In a survey of 1000 users, iPhone scored 83 on a 100-point scale. Android and the Pre tied for second at 77, followed by BlackBerry 73 and Palm's Treo 70.
AT&T scores low among service providers
While the iPhone users are the most loyal smartphone users, majority of them are not satisfied with the network services. Half of the iPhone users surveyed prefer to shift to another service provider, if given an opportunity.
Under an exclusive deal signed by Apple, AT&T is the only service provider for iPhones in the nation.
But according to the survey, AT&T has scored low among the four major networks. The service provider scored 69 out of 100 among iPhone users and 73 among non users. Verizon scored the highest, 79 out of 100 among smartphone users. Even Sprint Nextel, which has fared poorly over the years, scored 74 out of 100, more than AT&T.
“AT&T has never fared great in customer satisfaction surveys," said Doug Helmreich, program director with CFI Group. "But they've never been last. Now AT&T is coming up last among smartphone users. The iPhone has been a cash cow for AT&T, but that cash comes at a cost in terms of overall satisfaction."
The analysts believe that iPhone sales will more than double once Apple’s exclusive contract with AT&T ends. The sales could shoot from 4.9 percent up to 12.2 percent if Apple adds Verizon as one of its network carriers.
Users voice discontentment
Problems with AT&T’s service has been widely been reported through blogs, Twitter feeds etc. Majority of the iphone users have voiced their annoyance with AT&T’s service. Customers have mostly complained about poor network coverage, drop calls, failure to connect to 3G service.
An iPhone user named Bretski01 posted his views on digg.com saying, “I switched from Verizon to AT&T just to get the iPhone. What a huge mistake, AT&T’s service is HORRIBLE! As soon as my contract is up I'm switching back!”
A user named Nace33 stated through a Twitter feed, “As much as I hated AT&T I am equally unhappy with Apple freely choosing an exclusivity deal with them.”
Julio Quintero, posted his comments on BusinessWeek saying, “The phone never ever, ever, worked. Never! I trusted their BS ad I ended up having 3 different phones, all which they made me paid for. I cancelled my service and I swore I would never, ever come back. I have 2 iPods and 1 Blackberry on another network and I never get a dropped call, ever. I am dying to get an iPhone and I swear to you I will never get one until AT&T looses their exclusive agreement and I can't wait till that happens. It looks like they are still the same old dinosaur from the MaBell days.”
The continuing network problems could also dent AT&T’s growth in future.
In order to continue its operations successfully, the network provider should accept network problems and mend them quickly, said Rob Adler, vice president at Vantage Communications, a technology public relations firm in San Francisco. Another measure the network needs to take up is to market more overtly and explain the service’s value to the consumer.
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